RUSSIA RELIGION NEWS

Summary of day four of Jehovah's Witnesses
trial

Eight witnesses questioned, examination of
charters of local
congregations, history of a believer's illness, search for answer
to the
question what believers do with extremist literature—this is the
way a session
of the Supreme Court in the case about the liquidation of the
Administrative
Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia turned out, which was
conducted on 12
April.

As Kavkazskii Uzel wrote, at the start of the
session,
lawyers for the believers declared that the Administrative Center
informed
local religious organizations about the entry of some publications
into the
list of extremist materials and created a commission to prevent
their
appearance. It also was reported that several believers from
Taganrog (Rostov
province) had received political asylum in Europe as their
congregation was
liquidated and the court sentenced them to fines and suspended
prison terms.

In the opinion of the Russian Ministry of
Justice, the
activity of Jehovah's Witnesses threatens the rights of citizens
and public
safety. Lawyers for the defendant called the attempt to ban their
activity
political repressions, although the court did not agree with this
assessment. A
lawyer for the Ministry of Justice said that after liquidation of
the
organization, law enforcement agencies will be able to initiate
cases on the
basis of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the RF (arranging
the activity
of an extremist organization) providing for fines of from 300 to
800 thousand
rubles and imprisonment of from two to 12 years. The Ministry of
Justice also
demanded the confiscation of the property of Jehovah's Witnesses.

We
learned about this
story only in court

One of the central topics of the 12 April
session was a
discussion of a decision earlier made by the court to add to the
case evidence
of "violations of the rights of citizens on the part of Jehovah's
Witnesses." As attorney Viktor Zhenkov explained, the issue was a
story of
the illness of a minor patient, whose parents made the choice to
use bloodless
medicine.

"The doctors diagnosed the child with a low
hemoglobin
level. The question was how to raise it. The doctors recommended
to the parents
a treatment of a blood transfusion, although the parents decided
to use a drug
that helps an organism to produce red blood cells. Whether blood
was used or
not is unknown. There was no operation and the child spent several
days in the
hospital. He is alive and healthy. We, the defense, learned about
this story
only in court," Zhenkov reported.

The attorney thinks that the story of illness
has nothing to
do with the case about extremism. "Every patient has a choice of
how to be
treated," Zhenkov told a Kavkazskii Uzel correspondent.

We note that in the course of consideration of
the question,
the attorney read excerpts out of an order of the Russian Ministry
of Health
pertaining to the dangers of transfusion of components of blood
and also to the
necessity of getting written agreement for conducting this
procedure from the
patient in advance. "There is no qualification in the order that
representatives
of some religions are allowed to exercise the right of informed
consent and
others are not allowed," Zhenkov quoted the official website of
Russian
Jehovah's Witnesses.

The defense also expressed puzzlement because
the justice
ministry possessed a document containing medical confidence.
Kavkazskii Uzel
still has not obtained commentaries from lawyers for the ministry.

In June 2010, the European Court for Human
Rights, having
reviewed the case of Religious Community of Jehovah's Witnesses
versus the city
of Moscow, and others against the "Russian Federation" came to the
conclusion that refusal of blood transfusion cannot be compared
with attempted
suicide or murder. "If one understands the decision of the
national courts
as implying equality between refusal of a blood transfusion and
suicide, then,
in the opinion of the European court this analogy is not
applicable, inasmuch
as the situation in which a patient tries to hasten the onset of
death by means
of discontinuing treatment is different from situations in which
patients, for
example Jehovah's Witnesses, simply select a method of treatment
while wanting
to recover and not wanting to reject treatment in general," the
decision of
the European court says. In June 2013 the ECHR ordered the Russian
government
to pay 5,000 euros to the daughter of a female Jehovah's Witness
from Nalchik,
finding disclosure of information from her medical record to be a
violation.

Function
of the Administrative
Center is purely logistical

A special place in the trial was occupied by
clarification
of the role that the Administrative Center plays in the activity
of local
religious congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses. This question was
studied in
the context of the liquidation, by decisions of courts, of eight
congregations,
a Kavkazskii Uzel conrrespondent who was in attendance in the
courtroom
reported.

Defense attorney Yury Toporov declared that the
charters of
regional organizations may differ. The Russian Administrative
Center, at the
request of fellow believers from the regions, provides
recommendations, for
example, what are the dimensions for building a house of worship.
However the
local religious organization agrees the construction project with
local
authorities.

To the question of Judge Yury Ivanenko whether
the head
office had confirmed the charters of liquidated local religious
organizations,
Toporov answered that the founders of a new local religious
organization may
send a request for membership in the structure of the
Administrative Center in
order to speed up the procedure of registration. In that case, the
Administrative Center examines the charter in order to be sure
that the
founders are Jehovah's Witnesses and that their goals coincide
with the
teachings of the religious organization.

Congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses in the
South Federal
District and North Caucasus Federal District have frequently been
fined for the
use of literature that was later entered into the Federal List of
Extremist
Materials. And several local organizations have been liquidated,
including
those in Taganrog, Abinsk, Cherkessk, and Elista. Believers have
reported
increasing incidents of plants of printed materials ruled to be
extremist in
houses of worship and Russian rights advocates have noted that
prosecutions
have attained unprecedented proportions, according to information
of
"Jehovah's Witnesses—extremists or victims of lawlessness?"
published
in Kavkazskii Uzel.

"Did the Administrative Center import
literature that
subsequently was ruled to be extremist?" the Russian Jehovah's
Witnesses'
website quoted the judge's question. The defendants described the
function of
the head office as "purely logistical": a foreign publisher
amasses
orders from individuals and then sends literature to the
believers. As regards
publications ruled to be extremist, Jehovah's Witnesses' attorneys
said that
the Administrative Center reports to local congregations about the
entry of
printed materials into the Federal List of Extremist Materials and
asks them
not to use them.

"What is the fate of printed productions that
have been
ruled extremist? Is it taken away from believers by the center? Is
it
destroyed?" the judge asked. The attorneys declared that the
Administrative Center cannot dictate to believers what to do with
literature
that is in their possession but it only calls attention to the
provisions of
the law.

A justice ministry's attorney asked what
measures had been
undertaken by the Administrative Center for "preventing extremist
activity." After attorneys' repeated information that had been
voiced in
previous sessions, Judge Ivanenko recalled that even in the event
of an absence
of such measures, these are not grounds for the liquidation of all
congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses, Portal-Credo reported. "Is
there
extremism on the basis of carelessness or inaction?" the judge
asked a
lawyer for the plaintiff and he received a negative answer. [. .
.]

I
destroyed
[publications] that were entered into the list of extremist
materials

In the course of the session, attorneys for the
defendant
questioned their own witnesses: for this role, four believers with
academic
degrees were chosen. Most emotionally spoke Vilen Kantere, a
doctor of
technological sciences and member of the Russian Academy of
Engineers, the
International Academy of Engineers, the International Academy of
Organic
Products and Biotechnology and laureate of the State Prize.

"After becoming a Jehovah's Witness 25 years
ago, did
you pursue extremist goals?" attorney Toporkov asked. "God help
me!
Of course not!" Kantere literally screamed. "Extremism is not
compatible with my faith. After materials were entered into the
Federal List of
Extremist Materials, I destroyed them, although the question of
the justice of
entering publications into the Federal List of Extremist Materials
I consider
to be beyond the limits of this discussion," a Kavkazskii Uzel
correspondent quoted the witness for the defense.

This speech was received by the believers
present in the
courtroom with enthusiasm: uneasy applause broke out. The judge
looked at the
bailiff sternly, who looked around the room attentively.

In response to a question of the justice
ministry's lawyer,
Kantere explained that his religion does not prevent receiving
higher education
and he thinks that this question should be approached responsibly,
the details
of the hearings were reported on the website of Russian Jehovah's
Witnesses.

Regular inspections of the premises for
services to find
forbidden literature were described by Valentin Zavyalov, a
professor of the
Moscow Construction Engineering Institute and fellow of the
department of
theoretical mechanics and aerodynamics of the Moscow State
Construction
University. "The appearance of extremist materials at worship
services is
categorically ruled out," a Kavkazskii Uzel correspondent quoted
Zavyalov,
who has been a Jehovah's Witness more than 20 years. Zavyalov
clarified that
the titles of literature that has been entered into the Federal
List of
Extremist Materials are hung on the wall of premises where worship
services are
conducted.

"We are encouraged to reject forbidden
literature and
to get rid of it. But there are dishonest people and we always
check whether
extremist literature has been hidden behind a toilet, behind
batteries, or
under stairways," Interfax-Religiia quotes Zavyalov.

"I am engaged in prevention of child abuse and
the
struggle with the distribution of extremist materials among youth.
I can assure
you that the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses is incompatible with
extremism.This
teaching helped me
to raise my own child, of whom I am very proud," a Kavkazskii Uzel
correspondent quotes the answer to a question by the judge by
Tatiana Kremneva,
a doctor of pedagogy and professor of the Moscow State Pedagogical
Institute.

"In services do you not arouse hatred of other
religions?" Judge Ivanenko asked. "No," the professor said,
specifying that she deals with colleagues and students who do not
share her
convictions "positively, without hatred, disrespect, contempt, or
discrimination," the website of Russian Jehovah's Witnesses quotes
Kremneva.

"Believers say that their convictions do not
prevent
them from being educated people, because science and religion do
not conflict.
Faith helps them treat all people with respect," defense attorney
Viktor
Zhenkov comments on the results of the examination of the
witnesses.

If harm was caused, why did they not appeal to law
enforcement?

The session on 12 April culminated in the
examination of
witnesses for the prosecution, which role was played by four
persons who had
left the ranks of the religious organization of Jehovah's
Witnesses.

The first statement by St. Petersburger Natalia
Koretska
evoked a notice by the judge of active use of a notebook with
notes. In his
turn, attorney Omelchenko thought that Koretska's words were taken
from one of
the anti-cult websites. "The strong similarity of wording with
notes in
the notebook—How do you explain this?" the defense attorney
questioned
Koretska. However the woman answered evasively. "The court makes
the
decision to acquaint itself with the witness' notes," the judge
ruled,
declaring that the familiarization will occur later, the
Kavkazskii Uzel
reported.

Koretska also was not able to explain to the
court how the
former believer, from 1995 to 2009, could now know about
"incidents of
extremist activity" of recent years, the Russian Jehovah's
Witnesses
website reported.

The essence of Koretska's statement came down
to what she
said was the existing "complete and total control of life by the
Administrative Center." Responding to a request from the judge to
cite
instances of control, Koretska reported that an example was her
expulsion from
the congregations after she "began her close, but not officially
registered,
relations with a man," TASS reports.

Plaintiff's witness Pavel Zverev declared that
he suffered
from the activity of the religious organization in that he was not
able to
receive higher education, from which he suffers "in my living."
Judge
Ivanenko pointed out that other Jehovah's Witnesses not only
received higher
education but also academic degrees, Interfax-Religiia reports.
Zverev also
said that while working as a volunteer chef in the Russian
Administrative
Center "there formed in him an attitude of hatred toward Orthodoxy
and the
clergy."

"We see that the witnesses give evidence in
accordance
with written materials, repeating the conclusions of so-called
sect-scholarship
literature. Some of them figure in open sources as activists of
the movement
that fights against Jehovah's Witnesses, TASS quotes defense
attorneys. However
Zverev denied that he is a member of anti-cult organizations,
despite the
assertion of the attorneys about the presence in open access of
his photo with
famous representatives of the "sect-scholars," the Russian
Jehovah's
Witnesses' website reports.

"Witness, if you really were caused harm, did
you turn
to law enforcement agencies?" the judge asked. Zverev's answer was
negative. Laughter broke out in the courtroom. The judge again
looked at the
bailiff sternly, and he—at the hall. The laughter ended, the
Kavkazskii Uzel correspondent
describes that episode.

A former Jehovah's Witness, from 1983 to 2009,
Volgograder
Nina Petrova, declared that she did not marry since they persuaded
her that she
"does not need" a family, and when she "understood that this was
a deception, it was too late." During the testimony, several of
those
present in the courtroom quietly discussed that the activity of
the religious
organization is not directly connected with making a family.

The publications of Jehovah's Witnesses
consistently
criticize the teaching of obligatory singlehood (celibacy).
"Although the
Bible speaks highly of marriage, it certainly does not condemn
singlehood, if
it is undertaken voluntarily. Honest marriage is a blessing from
God.
Compulsory celibacy harms spirituality," the periodical
publication Awake,
for 8 June 1998, states in particular.

Petrova considered that an example of extremist
activity was
that believers "expel from their ranks those who commit sins." The
judge asked the justice ministry's lawyer just which arguments
presented in the
lawsuit confirm these testimonies. "A possible threat to an
undefined
circle of persons," the answer sounded. To the judge's question
whether
Petrova saw that believers distributed extremist literature, she
responded
negatively, Portal-Credo reported.

In the ninth hour of the session, testimony was
given by
Viktor Koretsky, who ceased to be a Jehovah's Witness in 2009. The
lawyer of
the Ministry of Justice posed the question of what Koretsky knew
about the
attitude of former fellow believers toward higher education and
state symbols.
"These points are not indicated in the grounds of the lawsuit. Why
explain
this for us?" the judge addressed the lawyer of the plaintiff.
"The
question is withdrawn," the Kavkazskii Uzel correspondent quotes
the
reaction of the employee of the ministry.

After that the judge declared a recess until
10:00 on 19
April.

If there
is an order,
testimonies may be whatever is beneficial

Believers who assembled after the session, not
far from the
Supreme Court building, were satisfied with the day's results.

"Representatives of the plaintiff's side
compromised
themselves, especially the lady who read from notes," one of the
believers
told the Kavkazskii Uzel correspondent.

Another Jehovah's Witness was less optimistic.
"Despite
the ridiculous statements of prosecution witnesses, the trial may
not end in
favor of believers. If initially there was an order to the court,
then the
testimony can be as ridiculous as you want," the speaker noted.

"At the base of the decision to ban religious
literature lies the "exceptionality" of Jehovah's Witnesses. But
then
it is logical to ban all world religious, which are based on the
very same
thing," trial attendee Maria shared.

Conviction of the exceptional nature of beliefs
is inherent
to many religious movements, personnel of rights advocacy
organizations and
religious studies scholars surveyed by Kavkazskii Uzel declared
earlier. They
doubt the rationality of the lawsuit being considered by the
Russian Supreme
Court. (tr. by PDS, posted 15 April 2017)

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